Tag Archives: Garden

Lily and I got some more gardening done yesterday and today. The peanut is a natural born gardener. She loves to crawl around in the dirt. She also meticulously watches me out seeds in the ground. She then imitates me and pokes her fingers into the dirt and the pays it with her hand. When I laugh or smile at her for this she coos with glee.

In sum, we planted three more beds. In the second long bed we put in radishes, carrots, and beets. In the square sectioned bed we first added some compost and then laid down spinach, mustard greens, and a spicy salad mix. In this bed there are also some herbs that wintered over. The thyme is still kicking, and mint and oregano seem to be making a come back. I left the section with the mint open knowing mint will go wild in a month from now. I planted the other greens around be thyme and oregano. Mmmm thinking of using both on summer grilled pizza.

In the first medium sized bed with added sheep poop and some more compost. We then spread arugula seeds in rows across half the bed. On the second half we planted red winter and Italian kale.

I’ve decided to go heavy on the greens this year. In fact I’m a little worries there won’t be enough spinach. With the Ps and Eunice living with us as we’ll as aunt Sarah coming to stay for a month in addition to other family coming throughout the summer the garden is going to be hard pressed to keep pace.

This year I’ve also decided to plant all the seeds directly into the ground as opposed to starting them in starter cups and planting later. We seem to have bad success with this in the past the few times I’ve done it. In order to keep gardening on top of parenting and being a good husband and running and teaching and remodeling the basement, I need to figure out was to make gardening quick and easy this year. Anyone have tips on this front? Feel free to comment here.

Lastly, our fruit is finally taking off. The buds on the cherry trees are popping (that sounds super dirty). Same with one of the apple trees. The other is going slower. And most exciting of all, my raspberries are alive!!!!!! I was so worried about them all winter. I have several shoots coming up. I’m very excited.

Thanks for the gardening advice Michael, Mandy, and Eunice. This weekend I added some compost we’ve had cooking for a year and a half now and a bit of dirt from the window wells to the two large 12 ft beds and tilled them with the mattock. Very satisfying to use homemade compost. I feel like we’ve completed a circle of some sorts.

In the bed closest to the shed I sowed 9 rows of peas. I put in three varieties: Cascadia Bush snap, snow pea, and green arrow shell. Lily was a huge help in the seeding. She thought it was hysterical watching me swing the mattock while tilling too.

There’s a little room on the end of the first bed. In the remaining room and in the second 12 ft bed I’m hoping to plant some greens and roots this week. However today brought a mile high April surprise:

It’s about 7-8 inches right now. I’m thinking along your line Mandy, water for my peas 🙂

In other news I’ve been running a lot and feeling strong. After some disappointing knee problems at the Salida marathon in early March I’ve been trying to work more squats and core work into my routine to strengthen the stabilizer muscles. Additionally I’ve been riding the bike a little between our bouts of snow. These slight changes have made an impact. In march I logged a total of 121 miles with little to no knee problems post Salida. In April now I’m already at 83 miles. I went for a big 25 miler with 5100′ of gain on Saturday with some of my ultra friends. It was a good test of my fitness. I felt strong and good he whole way. Knee was a bit sore yesterday, but I think it has something to do with the fall I took mid run. The weekend before K and I ran for edgewater to aurora to see David in the hospital. Weird run. Here’s two pictures from it:

Sunday this weekend we had a family day. Wearing the new pack with Lily in it, my beast wife did the better half of a 7 mile hike through Dino ridge and Red Rocks. Lily had a blast. We stopped after a while for a snack. Lily had fun playing in the dirt and exploring the rocks.

Lastly the basement is coming along slowly but surely. I installed egress windows over spring break in March. I drew up my floor plans. I began framing. And, today the plumber started working on the ejector. By the end of April he goal is to finish all plumbing and framing and move into electrical.

In closing I just want to say my heart goes out to those folks in Boston. Such a heinous and hateful act is beyond comprehension to me. And as a runner I feel another connection and have questions on another level. Why a race? Runners are humble loving people. While I’m never going to be Boston fast I a feel a community I am a part of was attacked. I’m not trying to say that i can in anyway conceive of what the people there are feeling and going through, but I can’t help feel some personal connection.

The snow continues to fall outside the window as i write this on the iPhone in bed (again apologies for all the typos, still trying to figure out how to iPhone blog). Snow day snow day snow day! Common there’s actually snow unlike last week. Keep the snow falling.

I’m hoping to put the first seeds in the ground this weekend. Soaking peas to plant tomorrow. It’s a little late to out peas in, but I’m hoping we can actually get a crop this year. Last year we were way too late and the peas fried in the hot Colorado sun.

Also this weekend going to sow spinach, arugula, radishes and a few others.

Garden beds seem to be in good shape. The soil we brought in last year was so compost rich, I don’t think I need to amend the soil this year. Might add a little black dirt to Bolster the depth. Will probably till before planting as well.